Former race director would have penalised Norris

Apr.9 (GMM) Lando Norris has reason to be relieved Niels Wittich is not still race director in Formula 1.

At the end of the Japanese GP, while running second behind Max Verstappen and in front of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, Norris skipped the famous Suzuka chicane.

He maintained position and was not penalised.

“You can see that he’s still nervous in the car,” former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher said.

And according to Wittich, Norris should also have received a penalty.

“Well, I have to be honest,” the German, who was suddenly ousted as race director late last season, told Sky Deutschland. “From my point of view, Lando should have let himself fall back (behind Piastri).

“I’m a bit surprised that nothing happened,” he added. “The standard for something like that would be a ten-second penalty.”

It has also been hotly debated whether, laps earlier, McLaren should have allowed the slightly quicker Piastri to move past Norris and have a go at attacking Verstappen.

McLaren’s pit strategy was also criticised.

“I think they are really too conservative,” former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos told Ziggo Sport. “They didn’t even try to win.

“It seems like they are only concerned with defending the constructors’ title. That is their right, but it’s not really good for the sport.”

Doornbos thinks Piastri’s manager Mark Webber should also be furious that McLaren favoured a safe race result at Suzuka rather than allowing Piastri to charge for the win.

“I immediately sent Mark a message,” said the Dutchman. “I told him that I don’t expect he will accept that at all.”